


Christmas Past

by its_too_cliche_24



Series: 12 Days of Ficmas (2020) [7]
Category: Stargate SG-1
Genre: 12 Days of Christmas, Child Death, Christmas, M/M, Past Character Death, Reminiscing, Sad
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-20
Updated: 2020-12-20
Packaged: 2021-03-11 00:34:54
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 689
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28236279
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/its_too_cliche_24/pseuds/its_too_cliche_24
Summary: Jack has a hard time with the holiday season.
Relationships: Daniel Jackson/Jack O'Neill
Series: 12 Days of Ficmas (2020) [7]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2057148
Comments: 2
Kudos: 16





	Christmas Past

Daniel watched Jack from the passenger seat. He'd been uncharacteristically quiet for most of the drive, and it was starting to concern Daniel. Not only was he quiet, but he looked deep in thought. Which was also strange, if he might so boldly add.

In fact, Daniel wasn't sure if Jack was actually _present_ at the moment. Driving to his cabin was so normal to him it was probably just muscle memory. No need to actively pay attention. And since this was the first year they'd gone down together, he probably wasn't used to paying attention to another person in the car.

The radio was down low, Bing Crosby softly crooning a Christmas carol. Normally, Jack would sing along. Off key, of course, but something was better than nothing. And Daniel would be lying if he said he didn't like Jack's renditions of Christmas classics.

"Are you okay?" Daniel asked gently, careful to not scare Jack out of his trance.

He jumped anyways, then looked at Daniel like he'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. His eyes flicked away guiltily, away from Daniel's gaze and back at the road.

"Yeah, yeah, I'm okay."

There'd been a sadness in his eyes, a deep, empty sadness that made Daniel's heart ache to see on Jack's face. Even though he knew it wasn't like Jack to let his guard down so quickly, it still hurt to see his pain so plainly, but for him to refuse to ask for help.

Reaching over, Daniel placed his hand on Jack's knee, trying to show his support. Whatever he was going through, Daniel would be there.

"You know, if something _did_ happen to be wrong, you could tell me, right?" Daniel reminded, "I'm right here. Always will be."

For a moment, Jack didn't do anything. Didn't say anything, didn't give Daniel any sort of look, didn't even take his eyes off the road.

Then, he let out a lengthy heavy sigh.

"I miss him," He said simply.

Eyes still on the road, refusing to look anywhere but forward.

Of course. Charlie.

Daniel winced internally, and squeezed Jack's leg gently. Of course, the holidays make you think of loved ones. Especially lost loved ones. It wasn't like Daniel hadn't lost people before, but that was different than losing a child. He didn't know what Jack needed now. Whether Jack wanted to quietly remember him or talk, or even have Daniel distract him, he didn't know. What Daniel _did _know was he could show his support, and that Jack didn't have to hide around him.__

__"He would always get so excited around Christmas," Jack's smile was bittersweet, and he tilted his head to look at Daniel, who smiled similarly back at him._ _

__"He always looked forward to getting a tree and decorating it, it was one of our traditions. And he'd always go for the more scraggly ones too, I think that Charlie Brown special really stuck with him."_ _

__Jack's story fell short, his eyes trained back on the road. Daniel cursed the long windy roads, he wanted to just _be_ there already so he could throw off his seatbelt and wrap his arms around Jack. But for now, all he could do was rub circles into Jack's leg and let him tell Daniel as much as he wanted to._ _

__"I just miss him," he continued after awhile, not looking at Daniel again._ _

__"It's okay to miss him, he's your son," Daniel reassured softly, "don't ever feel like you have to hide that."_ _

__Jack took a hand off the steering wheel to squeeze Daniel's hand, and sent him an appreciative smile. For the rest of the drive, that's how they stayed._ _

__But as soon as Jack pulled up to the cabin, Daniel got out of the car. Jack was a little bit slower, and by the time he got out, Daniel was there. Ready to pull Jack into a tight embrace. He held on to Daniel tightly, burying his face in his shoulder._ _

__They stayed like that until they were both thoroughly cold, but neither of them pulled away. Neither of them cared to._ _


End file.
